‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Drops Surprise Trailers as Rhaenyra and Alicent Face Off

You can send up a prayer of thanks to the old gods and the new, because House of the Dragon season 2 is almost here! We’ve watched all of the first installment, and can now relax knowing there will be at least one more season’s worth of Easter eggs, theories, and Oh my god, did that just happen? moments galore. This renewal isn’t a total surprise considering how much money HBO is pouring into this show and the transparent amount of people watching it (the premiere episode broke an HBO record for total viewers at 10 million). But still! It's definitely good news.

Here’s what Francesca Orsi, executive VP of HBO programming, had to say about the renewal when it was announced back in August 2022: “We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with season 1. Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see TV. A huge thank you to cocreator and executive producer George R. R. Martin and cocreator and showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season 2.”

Here’s everything we know about season 2, including casting news, spoilers, and plot details.

But first! A random update:

The show’s first season was so acclaimed that it got nominated for a ton of Emmys at the 2024 awards show! Like, eight of them, to be exact. Unfortunately, none of the actors were nominated individually, but the show received noms for costuming, production design, cinematography, makeup, editing, and VFX. It was also nominated in one of the biggest categories of the night: Outstanding Drama Series.

In the end, it wound up winning Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, which is still a pretty big freakin' deal!!!

Okay, back to season 2. When is it happening?

Great question! That would be this June, according to Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming and Gaming Chief J.B. Perrette, who revealed the launch month for season 2 of the hit show during an interview at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media, and Telecom conference on March 4.

This is the first bit of intel we've gotten on the premiere date since November 2, 2023, when HBO Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys announced that the series was set to generally return in Summer 2024 at HBO's special press presentation in New York City.

Prior to that, in September 2023 around the end of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Variety *also* reported that it seemed as though House of the Dragon would be coming back in Summer 2024, while work on season 3 was expected to start soon since scripts could resume being worked on.

And then with two special trailers that show Rhaenyra and Alicent's Team Black and Team Green face off in season two, HBO confirmed that it will return on June 16, 2024. You can check them out and pick a side below:

What will the second season be about?

Now that we’ve seen the finale of season 1, we finally know where we’re going with season 2. This show is also based on a portion of a book, so we know what the series as a whole will be about. [Spoilers ahead for the season 1 finale.] In the first season's finale, we saw the first big death of the war that’s to come between the Green Council (Alicent and co.) and the Black Council (Rhaenyra and co.).

In the lead-up to the end of season 1, Condal teased a bit of what to expect from the show’s sophomore installment—and it’s going to be filled with more war, but somehow also more laughs.

“We will get to the spectacle, but you have to understand these people’s complexities before they’re thrown into war. Series 2 will hit the rhythms people came to expect from the middle run of Game of Thrones, but it will have been earned and viewers will feel the tragedies because we put the work in,” he explained (per Deadline) while also promising that more House of the Dragon humor is headed our way as the show will find “natural pathways into moments of levity” next season—even amid all the extra tragedies and bloodshed.

Plus, it was reported that Condal confirmed five new dragons in the series’ second season…a tidbit I’m sure will please Martin, lol. Apparently, the novelist attended an FYC event for HBO last March and admitted he wasn’t impressed with the dragons in Game of Thrones because “they were, like, all the same.” As for the fire breathers in the House of the Dragon? “They had personality,” he gushed. “They came alive. It came as great satisfaction to me.” So there ya have it, folks! Martin asked and Condal delivered.

Who’s returning?

Probably anyone who didn't die in season 1, TBH! [Spoilers ahead for the season 1 finale.] Although we do know that both Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who play the young versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent, are being replaced halfway through the season with actors playing the older versions of their characters (Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively).

It’s unclear whether Milly and Emily will still appear in the show in flashbacks or not. The younger actors were replaced as well (Aemond, Aegon, etc.), and those older actors will probably also return. Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen is officially RIP, so he probably won't come back either. Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen is likely to return as well.

Are any new faces joining the cast?

If you thought it was already complicated to remember everyone’s name, then you better get ready. Not only are all of our faves coming back, but there are some brand new cast members set to join for season 2.

Variety reported that House of the Dragon will be adding four new faces for season 2.

Gayle Rankin will play Alys Rivers, a healer and resident of Harrenhal. “She is a witch who has mystical visions and becomes a powerful figure within the Targaryen’s Green faction.”

Abubakar Salim will play Alyn of Hull, “a sailor in the Velaryon fleet who served in the Stepstones campaign.”

Freddie Fox will play Ser Gwayne Hightower, “the son of Otto Hightower, brother to Queen Alicent and uncle to her children King Aegon, Queen Helaena, and Prince Aemond.”

And Simon Russell Beale will play Ser Simon Strong, “the Castellan of Harrenhal and great-uncle to Lord Larys Strong.”

To say we're excited is a serious understatement!

P.S. We have posters!

The first posters for season 2 have been released, yay!

Will I ever stop calling it Game of Thrones instead of House of the Dragon?

Probably not.

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